Bartel

Mateusz Bartel could have been forgiven for taking life easy after winning the Aeroflot Open and a coveted place in the Dortmund super-tournament. Instead he went on to win the Polish Championship for the third year in a row. Leszek Kropisz interviewed a player whose star is in the ascendancy.

The key encounter in round 7 of the Olympiad was between the top two Russian men’s teams, with the “veterans” prevailing thanks, once again, to Sergey Karjakin. Meanwhile, the emotional roller-coaster of Radek Wojtaszek’s win against Hikaru Nakamura was captured in live commentary by Mateusz Bartel, the fifth member of the Polish team.

There’s an urban myth that Vladimir Malakhov, rated 2725, a World Cup semifinalist and on the Russian 1st team for the Olympiad, is an amateur chess player. He sets the record straight in an interview with Wojciech Gryciuk for the Polish Chess Federation website, while also making some startling revelations about top-level chess.

Radosław Wojtaszek, one of Anand’s seconds in Sofia, gave an interview to the Polish chess magazine “Mat”. Topics included the help provided by Kramnik & co., the enigma of Topalov’s “weak” play but stellar rating, and the effect of the volcano on Anand’s plans.